Spicy Molasses & Chocolate Cookies

The candies give the cookies a crunch and sharp burst of spicy, ginger flavor. Chopped crystallized ginger would also be very nice here… the ginger candies I happened to have on hand.

These molasses cookies are thin and chewy, and are wonderful with the chocolate dunk. The pieces of ginger give these spiced cookies an extra bite. I hope Aunt Lizzie would approve.

Spicy Molasses & Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Butter,
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 4 cups All-purpose flour, unbleached
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• 2 teaspoons vegetable shortening, like Crisco*
• 1 ounce crystallized ginger pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cream together the butter and brown sugar for 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add molasses and mix together well. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, chili powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl, alternating with the buttermilk.
3. Use a small ice cream scoop – the 2-teaspoons size, to place dollops of cookie dough on the prepared baking sheet: the cookies spread to be about 2-3/4 inch in diameter, so give plenty of space between each cookie. I recommend 3 by 3.
4. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, until the edges are just set. Transfer them immediately to a cooking rack.
5. While the cookies are baking, mince the crystallized ginger. Use a very sharp knife to do this. The ginger will be sticky, but it the process goes fine if you take your time. Slice the pieces of ginger into long strips and then cut them crosswise into tiny pieces. Separate and spread the tiny pieces over a cutting board and allow them to sit until it’s time to use them.
6. Once the cookies are cool, melt the chocolate: heat the chocolate chips and 2 teaspoons of vegetable shortening in the top of a double-boiler, or in a heat-proof bowl set over (but not touching) a pan of simmering water. Heat and stir the chocolate until it is melted and smooth. Cover a few cooling racks with wax paper or parchment paper. Dunk one edge of each cookie into the melted chocolate and lay them on the wax paper. Add a few bits of minced ginger to the still wet chocolate. Allow the cookies to sit until the chocolate has cooled and set.
7. Makes 72 cookies Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Recipe Notes:

• You could also use hard, ginger candies instead of crystallized ginger if you’d prefer. Place a few candies into a zip-top plastic bag, seal it and use a rolling pin to break the candies into fine pieces. Sprinkle these pieces over the wet chocolate. 
• I added the vegetable shortening to the chocolate to help thin it a little. If you’d rather omit it, the chocolate will still melt fine on its own. It will be thicker when dipping the cookies and you may possibly need to melt a little extra chocolate to have enough for all the cookies.